(The following report appeared on the Jersey Journal website on May 31.)
NEWARK, N.J. — New Jersey Transit is set to raise fares nearly 10 percent for rail and bus customers beginning tomorrow, and commuters aren’t happy.
“Of course it hurts my personal budget,” said Hector Lopez, 50, riding the train yesterday morning from New York’s Penn Station to Elizabeth, where he works as a public interest lawyer. “My budget is tight.”
The fare increase – the first since July 2005 – closes a budget deficit of about $60 million in the agency’s $1.5 billion budget. It’s the third fare increase since 1990.
The increase also pays for new and expanded service, such as new multilevel rail cars with more seating and additional parking spaces.
Commuters will see different increases for different rail and bus lines.
For example, monthly single- and round-trip rail fares will increase by about 10 percent on average. Hudson-Bergen Light Rail fares will increase by 9.9 percent, with the base fare changing from $1.75 to $1.90.
However, some commuters could save money starting June 1 by avoiding more expensive peak fares. The morning peak period will begin 30 minutes later, at 7 a.m. Trains that currently arrive at the final destination between 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. are considered peak fares.
But for Lopez, who lives in the Bronx and does an off-peak reverse commute to New Jersey, the increase will come to $170 per year for his monthly pass.
Michael Thomas takes the train a few times a week from Monmouth University, where he works as an assistant dean, to New York, where his girlfriend lives. He said the fare increase feels bigger than ones on the tolls and roads.
“I was surprised by the percentage of the hike,” said Thomas, 41.
He said he plans to stock up on tickets before the hike.
One-way and off-peak roundtrip tickets do not expire, said Dan Stessel, a spokesman for NJ Transit.
He said ticket offices are reporting “a slight uptick in ticket sales,” but nothing resulting in longer-than-usual lines. Stessel said the agency began selling the new monthly passes with the increased fares on May 20.
NJ Transit is the nation’s largest statewide public transportation system, providing nearly 857,000 weekday trips on bus routes, light rail and commuter rail lines.